EB-1A Extraordinary Ability Case Results

Dr. C is a STEM researcher. Several years ago he filed an EB-1A (extraordinary ability) I-140, which was approved. Born in mainland China, he faces an EB-1 backlog, so he has been working at a U.S. research institution while waiting for his priority date to become current before applying for the green card.

• USCIS went back to verify the original filing and contacted the U.S. professor who had signed the letter of intent to collaborate. The professor said that after so many years there was no longer any intent to collaborate. Dr. C then received a Notice of Intent to Revoke, with only 30 days to respond.
• The original petition did not include a plan for continuing his work in the U.S. The letter of intent was essentially the only evidence that he would "continue work in his area of expertise in the United States," so once it was discredited, that requirement was left empty.

• We started with the legal standard. To revoke an approved petition, USCIS must show good and sufficient cause. EB-1A requires showing the applicant will continue work in the field in the U.S., and the regulations accept employer letters, contracts or the applicant's own statement of plans. Nothing requires one particular collaborator's intent to still exist years later, and a collaboration that later stalled does not show the original petition misrepresented anything.
• We supplied the work plan that was missing from the original filing, along with his research projects and publications from his years in the U.S. and proof of current employment at his institution. He had stayed in the same field the whole time; only his collaborators had changed.
• We contacted the original professor and asked for a statement that the intent to collaborate was genuine when the letter was signed and that the work did not move forward later because of changes in research direction and funding.

Date	Milestone
One week after the notice	Came to us
About three weeks after we took the case	Response filed
About three months after the response	USCIS kept the I-140 approved

The I-140 was saved, and so was the priority date. Dr. C is still doing research in the U.S. while he waits for his date to become current.

About three months after the NOIR response, USCIS kept the I-140 approved and the priority date was preserved.

A technical expert in environmental protection and engineering who has helped develop multiple national standards, holds more than ten patents, and has long served as a national-level industry review expert. The profile follows neither a purely academic nor a purely engineering path. Its strength lies in professional judgment at the level of industry standards and technical systems, combined with putting technical solutions into practice in real industrial settings.

A hybrid background is easily read by an adjudicating officer as "a bit of everything, but nothing in depth." How engineering results demonstrate "major significance," and how industry awards prove they were given "for excellence," are both common points of dispute.

We translated the engineering achievements into the language adjudicators use. The core evidence consisted of standards participation records, patent grants, project acceptance and review documents, and organizational appointment and governance documents, so every conclusion had a verifiable source. We identified potential points of dispute in advance and closed them with institutional documents and third-party records, leaving little room for questions. The petition was built around standard-setting, technical innovation, engineering implementation, and industry recognition, with every section serving the overall case.

Approved on first submission with no RFE; decision issued in 11 business days (filed 02/06/2026 · approved 02/25/2026).

A well-known medical expert in China who has worked extensively in medical research and drug safety monitoring, published dozens of papers with nearly 400 total citations, and serves as an attending physician at a top-tier hospital in China. Her credentials were solid, but the point of contention was her membership on a drug safety monitoring review committee, which does not fit the traditional reviewer template USCIS is familiar with.

It was uncertain whether this reviewer role would satisfy the EB-1A judging criterion. USCIS is usually skeptical of non-traditional reviewer roles, so her actual role in reviewing adverse drug reactions had to be argued precisely.

Rather than avoiding this non-traditional role, we directly explained the specific duties she carried out on the review committee and submitted it as comparable evidence, while using her citation record and attending physician position to reinforce her standing in the medical field.

Approved on first submission with no RFE.

After earning a PhD in mechanical engineering, Mr. W went straight into industry R&D. He is now a senior engineer at a new-energy vehicle parts company, focused on battery thermal management.

• He had published few papers and his citations were modest, so by academic standards his record did not stand out.
• Most of his projects were internal and confidential, so design documents could not be used as evidence.

• We built the case around original contributions of major significance, centered on several of his granted patents: which production vehicle battery packs use these designs and what problems they solve. The evidence was public patent texts, industry media coverage and a non-confidential letter from his company. No internal documents were used.
• For the other two criteria we chose his peer review work and his critical role on the R&D team. Most recommendation letters came from independent experts who did not know him, assessing from outside the company how his patents have affected the industry.

Date	Milestone
Late July 2026	I-140 filed with premium processing
Mid-August 2026	Approved, no RFE

An engineer without many papers can still prove his contributions through patents that made it into real products. Mr. W's EB-1A was approved the first time, with no RFE.

EB-1A approved the first time with no RFE (approved mid-August 2026).

The client works at a leading short-form drama company in Los Angeles and has long been involved in the planning, production, and content operations of short-form drama projects. Several productions the client worked on led their platforms in viewership and popularity, and the client has also served as a professional judge for short-form drama competitions and projects.

Short-form drama has emerged only in recent years. Its evaluation standards and ways of presenting career achievement are not as mature or uniform as those of traditional film and television, so the biggest challenge was turning market performance within the industry into evidence USCIS would accept.

Instead of applying the approach used for traditional film and TV professionals, we built a new evidentiary framework suited to an emerging industry. It centered on objective data such as viewership, popularity, and market rankings, combined with the company's industry standing and the client's judging experience.

Approved without RFE; decision issued in 14 business days (received 07/02/2026 · approved 07/20/2026, premium processing).

A senior film distribution producer who has led the localization and marketing of multiple major films. He is especially skilled at adapting imported films for Chinese audiences, for example by changing endings or casting local actors, and has driven the market success of several films.

His work spans distribution, production, and marketing. When reviewing his O-1 petitions, USCIS could not clearly place him in either the O-1A or O-1B category, and both O-1 petitions were denied.

After the two denials, rather than filing another O-1 on the same basis, we recommended moving directly to EB-1A. We rebuilt the argument around his central influence and leading role in film localization and marketing, avoiding the dispute over how to classify his role under O-1.

EB-1A approved on Independence Day.

A producer who spent many years building a career in Hollywood. Starting on an O-1 visa, she gradually established her standing in the industry and kept expanding her business, and she later served as a recommender for several newcomers applying for O-1 visas.

Hollywood carries a degree of industry bias against Asian women. On top of that, moving from O-1 to EB-1A required proof of sustained extraordinary achievement, not just a single award or successful project.

We stayed in close contact with her and updated the materials with each career development, presenting her business growth and her role as a recommender for others as evidence of sustained influence.

Approved on first submission with no RFE.

A senior director at CCTV (China Central Television) who was conferred a military rank after winning an award for a documentary about naval warships. When he first applied for an EB-1A green card in 2016, he was refused at the visa interview because of his military-region background and organizational membership, and his appeal was also unsuccessful.

A military-region background and past organizational membership are sensitive points in immigration review and directly affect the applicant's credibility determination. The earlier refusal and failed appeal also remained on record in the system.

We changed course and had him first apply for an O-1 visa to build up his record and reduce the risk of traveling back and forth. During the O-1 visa interview process, we gradually clarified the historical records in the system about his military-region background. Only then did we resume the EB-1A and complete adjustment of status (I-485) inside the United States.

The whole family obtained green cards.

A photographer highly regarded in the international photography community, whose work has repeatedly won top honors such as the International Photography Awards (IPA). The client holds Fellowship of the Royal Photographic Society (FRPS), its highest distinction, and had previously been approved for an O-1 visa.

Several important early exhibitions lacked official paper documentation; the client had kept only the email correspondence from that time. The core challenge was turning these fragmented, informal materials into evidence of artistic exhibitions that USCIS would accept.

We went through the client's email records in depth and located the organizers' news coverage and social media posts from those years, reconstructing each exhibition's curatorial context, scale, and public impact. We also presented the weight of the client's top-level membership and media coverage concisely.

Approved without RFE in just 10 days (filed with premium processing on March 16, 2026 · approved March 30).

An outstanding pipa performer who has appeared in top-tier performances, including the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics. With the firm's help, she was approved for an O-1 at the end of November 2024 and immediately began her EB-1A petition.

The EB-1A artistic exhibitions criterion is usually assumed to refer to static art such as painting and sculpture. Performing arts like music are often considered ineligible because there is "no physical work on display."

We redefined musical performance as a "dynamic exhibition" carried by time and staged in space. We documented her non-commercial themed performances in large public venues and argued that they had curatorial themes and artistic presentation. We also strengthened the evidence of her industry influence, as the teaching system she developed has been adopted by multiple institutions.

Approved without RFE in just 18 days (filed with premium processing on January 7, 2026 · approved January 25).

A young UX/UI designer with international design awards, media coverage, and exhibition experience. Believing he already met the requirements, he prepared and filed his own EB-1A petition using templates found online.

USCIS did not dispute his awards, coverage, or exhibitions. Instead, at the Final Merits stage (the final overall determination), it questioned whether he had truly reached the top of his field and whether his achievements were sustained. This is the hurdle DIY applicants most often overlook, and once the NOID arrived, only 10 days remained to respond.

Rather than reusing the legal documents from the DIY filing, we re-examined his entire career trajectory and reorganized the evidence of awards, coverage, exhibitions, and industry contributions to respond directly to the two core concerns: top-of-field standing and sustained achievement.

NOID overturned and petition approved (NOID received and Lingtu retained 04/30/2026 · response filed 05/11 · approved 05/25).

The client is a game designer who has contributed to the design and development of multiple titles, several of which drew strong user interest and performed well commercially after launch. On the team, the client was responsible for core gameplay design and key feature planning, not a peripheral execution role.

In team projects, individual contributions are easily overshadowed by the project's overall success, which makes it hard for USCIS to see how much of that success is attributable to the client personally.

We centered the argument on the client's specific role in each project. Using product market data, industry reviews, and media coverage, we drew a clear line between the project's success and the client's own professional influence.

Approved on first submission with no RFE.

The client is an industrial designer who has worked on several product design projects with significant market impact and has received professional awards in design.

USCIS questioned the industry standing of some of the awards and the client's specific contributions to the projects, and issued an RFE.

After receiving the RFE, we reworked the project history and the logic of the evidence, explained the professional recognition behind the relevant awards, and further proved the client's specific contributions to core projects. A successful project alone cannot stand in for proof of individual ability.

Approved after RFE.

A young product designer with internationally known design awards and major exhibition experience. The designer initially handled the case without counsel and prepared the first RFE response alone.

After the RFE response, the case received a NOID. Our analysis found obvious factual errors in the RFE and NOID, including incorrectly cited award names and confusion over the applicant's name and gender. The real point of contention was the top-of-field determination at the Final Merits stage.

We rebuilt the career timeline and argued that the designer's industry influence was the cumulative result of multiple achievements over time. We also pointed out each factual error in the case record, helping bring the review back to the objective evidence itself.

USCIS accepted the NOID response, and the EB-1A was approved.

A UI/UX designer under 30 who had already won all three of the design world's top awards: Red Dot, A' Design, and iF Design. That year USCIS was scrutinizing the design industry more strictly across the board and was especially sensitive to whether young applicants' achievements were sustained.

USCIS often questions whether a young applicant's achievements are concentrated in the past year or two and whether top design awards count. Large filings also risk outright denial because officers have limited review time.

We re-examined his career trajectory to show that his achievements were built up over a long period rather than a short burst of standout results. We also streamlined and focused the filing so USCIS could grasp the key points quickly within limited time.

Approved without RFE; decision issued in 14 days.

A lead product designer at an education technology company and a grand-slam winner of the three top design awards: Red Dot, A' Design Award, and iF Design Award. She had just been approved for an O-1 that March and filed her EB-1A in July.

Starting that July, USCIS began intensively scrutinizing design industry cases. She received a 10-page RFE that challenged nearly every criterion one by one: the prestige of the international awards, judging qualifications, the impact of original contributions, the employer's standing, her leadership, and the high-salary standard.

Rather than simply piling on documents, we built a stronger evidence package for each type of challenge. We amplified the international standing of the three awards, elevated individual achievements into an overall contribution, presented the company's industry position and her core responsibilities in full, and rebuilt the high-salary comparison.

After a 1,495-page RFE response, approved in 11 business days.

An interior designer from China who played important roles in several award-winning projects and is a member of well-known interior design and architectural decoration associations.

After the initial filing, USCIS questioned the prestige of his awards, his association memberships, and his media coverage. It found no independent evidence of international or national prestige and had not seen the associations' membership criteria or review process.

We submitted coverage from authoritative media and association certificates to support the weight of the awards and memberships, and used a recommendation letter from the CEO and industry comparison materials to show his central leadership role at the company. All documents included certified translations.

Approved just 3 days after the RFE response was filed.

A creative professional working across art and architecture, focused on combining digital installation art with commercial projects. Before turning 30, she had already won multiple international art awards and taken part in several high-profile exhibitions and judging activities.

Artists under 30 are rarely approved for EB-1A, and cross-disciplinary digital installation art does not follow a traditional academic or architectural career path, so her record could easily be seen as insufficient.

We showed in detail how she uses digital installation art to solve user experience problems in commercial projects and highlighted her distinctive position as a cross-disciplinary innovator. We also gathered recommendation letters from leading institutions worldwide, including Pratt, KPF, and Tongji University, to reinforce her leading role.

Approved on first submission with no RFE.

A senior interior designer with extensive experience and many successful projects, who retained us for an EB-1A petition to immigrate to the United States as an individual of extraordinary ability.

The original petition ran to more than 1,800 pages. Because premium processing required a decision within 15 days, the officer did not read the full record and issued an RFE on several questionable grounds.

Rather than adding more documents at the RFE stage, we systematically streamlined the original materials, removed redundant information, and kept only the most persuasive core evidence, cutting the filing to just over 400 pages.

Approved after the materials were streamlined; the whole family received their green cards on Lunar New Year's Day.

The client has long been involved in competitive gomoku (five-in-a-row) and in related teaching and promotion. The client has an outstanding competitive record, has received honors at regional and international events, regularly takes part in organizing events and professional training, and is well known in the gomoku community.

Results from one or two competitions alone would hardly persuade USCIS, and because gomoku is a relatively niche competitive game, its industry influence is not easily recognized.

Rather than focusing on the ranking from any single competition, the petition brought together competitive results, event participation, media exposure, and professional activities to show the professional standing the client had built steadily in this specialized field.

EB-1A approved.

A former speed skater and competitive aerobics athlete who, after retiring, founded a business in the fitness industry and serves as a company executive. His achievements go beyond competition: he holds the title of National Master Sportsman, is a national-level referee who has officiated three world-class events, and invented a tai chi water ball device that helps older adults with Parkinson's rehabilitation, combining traditional tai chi with modern technology.

The question was how an athletic career could support evidence of extraordinary ability that USCIS would accept. His post-retirement career change in particular had to be tied into one complete, persuasive narrative rather than several unrelated résumé entries.

We mapped his refereeing experience, invention patent, youth sports training, and government partnership projects to different extraordinary ability criteria, creating three parallel lines of evidence: athletic achievement, technological innovation, and community contribution.

Both O-1A and EB-1A approved.

The client has long worked in food product development and brand management, founding and running a company in China focused on developing and producing specialty foods. The client is also deeply involved in product development, recipe innovation, and new product launches. Several products have earned strong market recognition, building an independent brand with real influence.

USCIS can easily equate the role of company head with "the company is doing well" rather than the applicant's own professional achievement. The two needed to be argued separately and clearly.

Instead of building the case around the client's role as "the boss," we focused on the client's personal contributions to food innovation: product development results, industry recognition, media coverage, and the client's role in key projects. This tied the company's results to the client's professional ability.

EB-1A approved.

He previously worked as a software engineer at a well-known international tech company, which filed a green card petition for him; his I-140 was approved and his priority date was retained. He later chose to start his own company and did not want to keep working for his former employer, so he decided to leave employer sponsorship and self-petition using the priority date he had retained. After founding the company, he rode the AI wave: the company reached a valuation of over $10 million and raised more than $6 million, and he was named to several young entrepreneur lists, including Forbes and Hurun.

Leaving his former employer's sponsorship for a self-petition meant proving that he personally, not his company, met the extraordinary ability standard. The demands of running a startup also caused him to put the case on hold for a full year, compressing the time available to prepare materials.

We built an evidence framework proving his individual extraordinary standing around his technical achievements at his former employer, his startup's fundraising and valuation, media coverage, and rankings on authoritative lists, without relying on his former employer's endorsement.

Approved quickly without RFE. His priority date became current on the day of approval, so he changed status from H-1B to EB-1A directly within the United States.